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Helpful DXlabs Tip #2156.572

Want to play in the ARRl Centennial QSO Party and work the W1AW/? stations? Every week they are in two different states. It’s easy using SpotCollettor.

Simply program one of the eight SQL buttons to do the hard work for you. Never done it before, here’s an example using the “SQL 1” button:

1. Hold down the <CNTL> key, then left click the button labeled SQL 1 in the SpotCollector screen.
2. A new window will open called SpotCollector SQL Filter
3. On line 1, in the ‘Caption’ field type W1AW (or whatever you want the button to say that makes sense to you).
4. In the “SQL” Field enter, Callsign LIKE’W1AW/?’ (The ? after the slash means you will get ANY listing of W1AW/x. Tonight /3 and /0 are listed.
5. Close the SpotCollector SQL Filter Window

Now in the SpotCollector main window click the new W1AW button you created. Yahoo, if you’ve done it right you will be rewarded with a listing of all W1AW/x stations SpotCollector has heard. That’s the easy part, now go work them!

Be careful, those are single quotes -‘- before the W in W1AW and after the question mark, not double quotes -“-. If you make a mistake don’t fret, simply go back to the SQL window and fix your expression. Want to try some other ones, click on the ‘Help’ button in SpotCollector. When the help screen opens scroll down and click on the “Filtering with SQL Expressions” link. Dave has given us a lot of examples to try.

While you’re doing this take a moment to marvel at the power of DXlabs Suite, the fact that it’s available to everyone for free and the tremendous support the author Dave/AA6YQ provides. If you like it, drop him a note of thanks or even better post a positive review on eHam.